Tea Not Available
by Parakage
Summary: Mai's just a little tired of serving her boss tea. It's been 2 years and he hasn't changed in the slightest. His brother Gene is even alive but all Naru can seam to do is be an arrogant jerk. And now he won't accept her request for a case? It's bad enough that the gang seems to think nothing's changed but Mai Taniyama has. So it's about time that she stopped playing innocent.
1. Pilot

_**A/N Well okay, yea it took a bit longer than planned sorry for the long wait folks. But welcome to Tea Not Available. Based on No Tea and a few of my other works. At the moment I have a cycle of fanfictions in the work. Due to some complications, I had to wait until now to get back in the groove. I'll be deleting No Tea in the near future and taking a look at a bunch of my old stuff. I don't wanna overwork myself but it's good to get an idea of what I used to do so that I can improve myself.**_

_**I have four stories in the works currently and I'm not the type to be able to focus on only one. So I'll work on one and then switch over before going back to another. It seems to be working quite well. I'll be exploring a few different angles of storytelling with each. But I will be honest that I am terrible with deadlines and that I'll probably miss a few days here and there.**_

_**I dislike A/N's and I'm sure most of you do as well. So you won't see much more from me. I just wanted to let my followers who are still around that I'm sorry for the long wait. Now please enjoy the new Tea Not Available while I get back to writing more chapters. And to any new friends feel free to give me a critical review or just say hi. **_

Pilot

ot

"Beep, beep, beep!" sounded from an alarm clock. A soft groan soon followed from under the comfort of what looked to be a very soft green blanket.

A small mildly tan hand poked out to hit the stop button on the dark red clock before retreating back into the warmth of her blanket. The clock reading 04:50 as the person under the covers stirred before she tiredly pulling the cover off her face.

Large almond-shaped honey brown eyes lulled across the room. The room rather bare except for her bed, the wood nightstand holding her clock, blue lamp, and the charging phone with a cute cartoon cat on its case. And then there was the dresser standing next to the window overlooking the street below.

The woman of what seemed to be 18 ran her hands over her face, and then rubbing her eyes before with a flurry of movement she tossed her blanket off and crossed the room to grab a set of clothes for the day. Her long messy brown hair swaying as she bent down to grab her socks.

The silence of the room was broken by the sound of her phone buzzing. A text reading 'Mai sorry to bother you at this hour, but are we good for tomorrow night?' the message sender's name reading 'Yasu' Mai yawned tiredly before calling the number back.

The phone was answered within a second of the ring. "Wow, you're up early," Yasu with a chuckle in his voice while he was placed on speaker.

"I have to grab Naru's tea across town or he'll be in a 'bad mood' as if he is ever in a good one, to begin with," Mai grumbled as she trudged out into the hall and down towards her bathroom.

A louder laugh came from Yasu's end. "Right Big Boss loves his tea," it had been 2-3 years since she'd met Naru. But a 2 years' absence was a long time and contrary to her 'families' knowledge she'd grown in all that time.

These days she just found it easier to act like nothing's changed. But things, in fact, had changed a lot.

But the only people Mai didn't have to front with these days were Yasu and Gene. Those two had always kept in touch and actually knew what she was capable of.

Gently she turned on the sink water and washed her face. Her routine on autopilot as she mulled over the idea of dropping the act. What was he gonna do? Fire her? It's not like she'd been starving without them.

"I'm so sick of the way he treats me. And Yasu I swear if he refuses to take this case I'm done! Done I tell you," she huffed but heard the faint running of water on his end.

"You have a solid case Bun and he hasn't taken a case in a while so he should, in theory, take it after some prodding," Yasu stated before the sound of brushing teeth was heard.

'Bun' was his favorite nickname for her. To him, she was sweet and innocent like a cinnamon bun or a bunny. Mai hurried to brush her teeth and they talked while getting ready for the day. This was pretty much the norm for them these days.

They talked about random things such as how their last tests went, Mai relayed a story about the dog ghost she ran into the night before. It was standard for her to run into some kind of ghost multiple times a day. Especially with her medium skills growing. They'd grown so much she could see them almost as clearly as she could see the chopsticks she was using to shovel rice into her mouth.

"So Mai I did pull up some things about the case that you're trying to get Naru to accept," Yasu added as he no doubt knew it was almost time to hang up. "I'll be able to find more and bring it tomorrow. Is 18:00 a good time for you?"

Mai was triple checking her purse. "Yea that's fine, I should be leaving the office at 15:30. I'm done staying late I'd rather watch a movie or something than being stuck in that stuffy office till he decides its okay to leave," with that Yasu could tell she was finally at the end of her rope when it came to acting like the same old Mai everyone else seemed to love. "It's time he got a taste of his own medicine. Like I have nothing better to do than stay extra hours copying files he already has."

But at the end of the day, they were co-workers and only saw what they wanted to see. And with that, they said their goodbyes and Mai headed out the door. Her hair was so long now it reached her mid-back and it curled. Stepping into the crisp morning air wearing an off the shoulder blue sweater, a charcoal grey ruffle skirt, and blue running shoes. Idly she kept her gaze away from the hovering specters just waiting to latch on to anyone who could notice them.

These days as much as she would have liked to help all of them. There are just too many and it really wasn't practical to bother with them unless they were hurting people. Not to mention free-roaming spirits tended not to need much help. It was the ones who where site-bound and trapped that got picked up on SPR radar.

Never the less most earthbound spirits weren't nearly as dangerous as she would have believed in her early ghost hunting years. As she made her way to the tea shop she couldn't help reveling in old memories and how different her life was now.

Although soon enough the soft chime of the bell ringing and the scent of freshly ground coffee and tea pleasantly assaulting her sense of smell stirred Mai out of her thoughts.

The shop was familiar and always felt safe and welcoming. Perhaps that was why Mai, in reality, didn't mind coming all the way across town to shop here. However, she did regret introducing their tea to Naru...

Another day another demand for tea. Although Mai found herself preparing him a cup of hot chocolate instead. Determined to make him drink something other than tea. Even if it was the last thing she ever did on this green earth. Paying special attention to how she prepared it. After all, the stoic boy needed something different once in a while whether he orders tea or no. Mai could just imagine the glare he was going to have all day and she giggled.

It had been a long year after Naru, Lin, Madoka, and Gene had all gone back to England. But even after pretty much being abandoned by everyone except Yasu, Masako, and John she still took the job back when offered. It still bothered her when they came back as if no time had passed and everything was the same as they left it. Like she hadn't changed.

But Mai found herself playing like her stupid old self. After all, life was too short and when you have vivid dreams and die in them, that fact became more clear than ever. Dying hurt and all the ghosts she helped had the same thing in mind: anger. The ghosts stayed behind mostly because of anger or some regret. Some to protect people and others because they're lost.

Back before then she'd have been so upset and angry when they belittled her, she would have ignored them when Naru offered her the job. Mai was tempted to tell them all to fuck off. But doing this job alone was tedious. Advertising and all that other stuff was a pain. Plus she got to tease Naru.

_ "So you finally realized you can't live without my tea did you?" She'd said over the phone and heard the distinct sound of his twin laughing at his expense. _

It had been little over two weeks since then and the regulars of SPR had stopped by to catch up.

The hot chocolate appeared to be finished and so she poured it into a coffee mug. She had spent the last year ghost hunting by herself mostly since John, Masako, or Yasu had usually been busy. She'd learned a lot of new tricks from her new spirit guide Kyoya.

Though at first, they'd been a team. But eventually, everyone ended up being busy and so they only teamed up when someone needed the support. They usually dropped everything and that was why she never asked for help. But when she finally did, no one was there.

Mai had nearly died and she had needed their help. Only two people had responded. If it wasn't for Yasu and John, she'd be 6 feet under. Because in the last 2 years her life had drastically changed. Learning that demons, gods, and even starving versions of them had been terrifyingly strong and real. Very very real.

Yasu didn't know the full extent of what had happened, and John well he had some idea. But neither of them knew just exactly what Mai had been fighting.

But, even after all that, she'd joined SPR again. If not for some friendly faces on her side, but so they didn't all get themselves killed diving headfirst into something out of their league.

No one knew much about Mai's abilities... But Naru had only assumed that Mai had been lazy and didn't even bother asking. Which was annoying. It was likely that they hadn't grown much themselves if this was their thought process.

Mai's knuckles rapped against the door to her bosses layer absent-mindedly. Recalling how she'd gotten the truth out of Gene during the Urado case.

He'd informed her that he was a ghost and they had thought that was the case. That was until she'd found his body in a hospital. As it had turned out that he had been in acoma, and had been trapped in the Astral Plain because he hadn't been able to sense his body to find it. Turned out it was all a huge mix-up. How was anyone supposed to know otherwise?

Letting out a sigh before Mai opened the door and silently placed the mug in front of him before leaving without so much as a word. Closing the door behind her she went to sit behind her desk.

Unlocking her computer and started playing minesweeper and chess since she had already finished her job for the day. All she had to do now was answer the phone and keep an eye on the door in case a customer walked in.

Mai always needed to keep herself occupied in the office or she'd start thinking of ways to get herself fired. So after two hours passed by and she had defeated a player with the ID NassaciticScientist305 at least ten times, she decided to send him a notice that she had to go offline.

The opposing player replied with a 'fine' before she shut down chess. Then she got onto Go and switched out minesweeper with a text document. Mai spent about a half-hour writing and playing games before Naru exited his office. Not noticing him as she was too engulfed in what she was doing.

Naru looked over her shoulder expecting to find something stupid, but he just figured out who his rival in chess was. Thanks to Go being from the same website. He read a bit of what she was writing mildly interested in the dream world she was currently describing. Nothing at all like what she'd have been doing 2 years ago.

Had she really changed so much in the last 2 years? He just didn't wanna admit it to be true. He came back hoping for another chance to at least be friends again.

"Mai," he said her name and she jumped the slightest bit before lazily craning her neck up to look at him. "Hey, Naru I finished filing and stuff early so I'm just doing whatever." Mai didn't blush or overreact like he'd expected her too.

That put him off a bit before he thought about the hot chocolate she'd survived him. He was annoyed that she'd served him anything but tea or coffee. It was good, but he wanted tea, not hot chocolate. But, on the other hand, he couldn't deny she had a knack for making addictive substances. Naru offhandedly wondered if she spiked it with drugs sometimes.

"Since when did a dummy such as yourself learn to play Go?" he said staring down into her honey brown eyes.

Those same eyes flickered with anger for a moment but went away before she replied. "Since before I even met you. Not that you would know that." She saved her document mid-sentence and closed it.

Naru felt a bit peeved that she hadn't responded the way he'd like. He missed the girl he'd met 4 years ago. The one that always got flustered when he talked to her. This Mai was different, calm and sneaky. She was like a stranger. And this Mai was harder for him to read that the other.

His musings were cut short when Lin emerged outside his door carrying his suitcase and holding his jacket over his elbow of the same arm carrying the suitcase. He looked at his charge who was standing behind Mai and down to Mai who was shutting down her computer after pulling out her flash drive.

Lin noted that it was in the shape of some cartoon wand. Mai grabbed her backpack and her coat. Her now long hair was pulled out from under the backpack before she turned to Naru.

"So I can assume hot chocolate is ok to substitute with." She fiddled with her phone for a few seconds not expecting a reply.

"Not too often." She turned to him a blank expression on her face before a smile graced her lips.

"Oh yea," Mai said pulling out a case file. "Could you look over this file?"

Mai dropped a case file into Naru's hands before making her way out of the office. Not allowing him to say no.


	2. Chapter 1: Finding Gene

_**A/N: Whoops sorry for the delay guys. I'm a day late due to binge-watching Anne with an E on Netflix. Priorities am I right? Hopefully, you'll enjoy this chapter it was a lot of fun for me. Of course, I already had it written but I was being lazy about editing. I've gotten in the habit of writing a few chapters then rotating to editing chapters of other stories. We should be good for the Friday post I'm just deciding between Mortelle and Cookies I Hate You. But so long as snaillord doesn't spam a bunch of new chapters for Freaking Romance there shouldn't be any more delays.**_

_**Side note: If you happen to be a fellow fan of m'lord hiya.**_

Chapter One

Finding Gene.

Yasu tapped the front of his notebook that was sitting on top of the table in front of him. Glancing around the cafe he was sitting inside idly. This cafe was one of his and Mai's favorite places to grab a bite. The air smelled like freshly brewed coffee and baked sweets.

The sound of the cafe bell ringing made him look towards the door. Mai stepped into the cafe while wearing her school uniform. Yasu couldn't help thinking that she looked nice.

Mai had grown a lot since Big Boss Na- no _Oliver _had left for England with his twin brother Gene. Oliver didn't deserve even a hint of familiarity from the grey-eyed boy. Not after the way he left.

Yasu would _work with_ the guy though only for his own entertainment. Afterall chaos was fun to watch and Yasu didn't want her to face the jerk alone. He'd stay close in case she needed him, but Yasu knew that was unlikely. Mai could handle herself and didn't need him. But even if she doesn't he wanted to be there for when she did.

Yasu recalled the events of the last case they ever did with Oliver, Lin, and subsequently Madoka. But more so the events of what happened after. Finding out Gene was alive after the whole ordeal with Naru's revelation that he was Oliver Davis. Well, it had been quite a shock.

_ It had been a trying few days during the case of The Forgotten Children. There was a team scouring the lake intently and finding the bodies within. An unnerving sight to witness. Mai felt sick to her stomach as she opened her eyes weakly trying to stay awake. She'd been going in and out of consciousness since she purified the children and their teacher._

_ It had taken a toll on her body especially since days before she had been in the hospital after passing 'judgment' on the false Budda. She'd exhausted herself and had gone on to do so again within such a short time frame._

_ Yasu telling her she would be fine, joking albeit she couldn't focus enough for it to not sound like mumbling. Everything was so blurry... But, somehow Mai just knew Gene wasn't in that lake. That was all she could think before being heaved into the ambulance and losing consciousness. Yasu and John went with her not wanting to miss a beat on her condition._

_ After a long time, Yasu lulled his head up when everyone approached him. He'd been sitting in the waiting room for news on their favorite physic for a long while. And he was still exhausted from the night before. Nervously fidgeting every so often._

_ They greeted each other tiredly and all took to getting themselves comfortable in the waiting area. It was still going to be a while before they got any more news. But idly Yasu supposed it was a good thing everyone else had only minor injuries to speak of. Still, he recalled her actions in the case before they found out Naru was Oliver Davis and that he had been looking for his murdered twin._

_ At that moment she'd been amazing, to say the least. Her voice was strong as she challenged the 'god' who had from what she'd explained broken an oath of some kind. Mai hadn't gone into much detail other than she had been studying on the lore of every place they went to do a case and more._

_ She had used parts of both Ayako and Monk's chantings with some other mutterings but he couldn't remember it for the life of him. John patted Yasu's shoulder as he was the first to notice the Doctor approaching. _

_ "She is extremely exhausted," He scratched the back of his head before flipping through the file. Glancing at Naru repeatedly for some odd reason. "Small wounds and some bruising. Looks like she will be fine with enough rest." _

The sound of the cafe bell ringing brought Yasu out of his memories. Mai's honey-brown eyes sparkling when she spotted the raven-haired boy, waving and smiling as she approached his table. Yasu returned the smile his dark grey eyes twinkling. He stood up to hug her. His dark locks swaying with the motion.

"How have you been Bun?" Yasu pulled away to pull out the chair for Mai.

Memories coming up to the back of his mind remembering how Mai had ended up in the hospital. He also recalled how long Mai cried after Naru had just left her after his question. It boiled Yasu's blood knowing he could offer so little comfort during that time...

But he cleared his mind as they ordered more coffee and began catching up. Mai retelling the events of the other day. All in all, this moment had Yasu grinning from ear to ear.

**_God Mai felt so drained. Her skull was pounding. A faint voice was trying to reach out to her. It was familiar and kind. But her head hurt too much._**

**_ Though a boy stood to her side trying to reach out. His figure was entirely transparent and radiated a warm glow. Gene reached out again trying to snap the girl out of it._**

**_ "Mai," said Gene reaching out to grab her shoulder._**

**_ Mai turned around confused for a moment. Though her expression quickly became excited. She jumped into his arms to hug him. Her splitting headache fading as a sense of relief faded from her mind._**

**_ Gently Gene wrapped his arms around her in a big hug while laughing slightly. A gentle smile dancing across his lips. Gene was glad for that nightmare from earlier to be over. Having to stand on the sidelines while the people you care about are fighting for their lives._**

**_ His grip tightened feeling vexed at his inability to do anything outside of this realm. Though at least he got to comfort at least one other person. Though a small sniffle brought him out of his dark musings._**

**_ "I'm so sorry, your body isn't in the lake," said Mai crying into his chest._**

**_ Mai was unable to help Gene move on. She didn't want him to be gone, but she wanted better for him than to be trapped here. In this limbo unable to do anything besides watch from the outside._**

**_ Gene's heart clenched and a sad glint formed in his indigo eyes. He felt that familiar pull trying to take him away. It was stronger than ever. But he didn't wanna disappear right now. Gene needed to be here right now and the stupid cosmic dreams could wait._**

**_ "It's ok Mai," said Gene momentarily pausing to look at the curtain that had materialized._**

**_ It blocked his vision from what was behind it. But, an overwhelming sensation that Gene couldn't quiet understand washed over him. That pull felt like it would physically drag him towards it any minute now._**

**_ "It's not ok we-" she said crying her eyes out into his shirt and soaking it in the prosses._**

**_ Though Gene wondered how that was even possible... Amazing how the astral plain was so vivid and real. Emotions were more prevalent here and sometimes you could alter the living world from this space. But not Gene for some reason._**

**_ Regular ghosts and Mai could alter the living world from here. But Gene was like a ghost to the ghosts. Incapable of being seen except for Mai. Though he recalled someone from a long while ago suggesting his body was still alive._**

**_ It was ridiculous. Gene had been tossed off a bridge while inside a body bag. There was no possible way in hell. _**

**_ Though he supposed it wasn't all bad. Afterall even if they didn't find his body, there could be worse things than being inside a cute girl's dreams. Gene kissed the top of her head smiling._**

**_ "I should be flattered," said Gene as a smirk graced his face. "Having a cutie cry over me like this."_**

**_ Mai turned beet red causing Gene to laugh. Letting her step away in her embarrassment. Mai lightly slapped his chest all be it unable to stop her smile from breaking through._**

**_ "I think there's something you should see," said Gene relenting to the intense pull._**

**_ Figuring it best to get it over with now. Seeing as Mai's emotions were a bit more stable. Mai took a steadying breath to collect herself. Before she turned and approached the curtain. Annoyed she quickly tore it open wanting to get this ordeal over with so she could rest._**

**_ But what greeted her eyes made her heart skip a beat. Both of their eyes widened and faces turning pale. They looked between each other and then back at the familiar figure lying before them. Could it be true!?_**

_ Mai bolted up in her bed sweat pooling down the back of her neck. Although Mai soon found it a bad thing to do not a millisecond later. Losing her arm strength she fell back in pain. Her head throbbing and everything else on her body hurt._

_ Even so, she needed to see if it was true. But a pair of strong hands stopped her from getting up again. Slowing her breathing enough to calm herself._

"Take it easy Mai," said a deeply soothing and familiar voice.

_ Mai's eyes finally came into focus on his face. After having been blinded by the bright light in the room. Mai saw Lin watching over her with concern in his visible grey eye. With his black hair falling around his face._

_ And Lin's hands held out to stop her from getting up to fast again. Though Mai's eyes still had a wildly desperate gleam in them._

_ He could understand why she was so jittery. But not for the correct reason at this moment. Seeing as Lin figured that she was still shaken from the case before this. After all, it had been a trying experience for all of them._

_ Lin could only imagine what she'd experienced while he and most of SPR were under an illusion._

_ "Wh-" she began saying but her train of thought seeming to halt while she was looking around the room._

_ Mai was calm enough now to allow Lin to sit back in the chair beside her bed. Lin was usually the one at her bedside when she woke up in a hospital. Now that she thought about it. The man was always kind to her even if it hadn't seemed that way at first._

_ Actually, between him and Monk, they were the ones who were fast enough to reach her when she was in danger. Though Naru had been there himself a few times._

_ Unfortunately waking up in a hospital bed had become a more frequent occurrence with their occupation. Mai felt safe with Lin around. Especially with his shiki swarming around them. The floating orbs of warm light were now clearly visible for Mai._

_ She smiled Lin and his shiki were so alike. Like worried overprotective uncles and aunts. Especially when it came to the younger SPR members doing reckless things. _

_ "Mai you're in a hospital," said Lin watching her carefully in case she tried to get up again. "The others went for lunch."_

_ "Thanks for staying," her smile was so small and yet surprisingly bright Lin couldn't help but return it._

_ Lin watched as one of his shiki nuzzled Mai's cheek. And he momentarily wondered if she knew how much he and all of SPR cared about her. Causing him so much trouble since the day of their first meeting._

_ A part of Lin regretted dragging her into the world of the supernatural. But that selfish part of him was glad to have gotten to know her._

_ "Not necessary," said Lin stated and her smile grew a little more._

_ "Is everyone alright? Did Naru find Gene? I-" he held up a hand watching her as she scanned his expression with those large worried eyes._

_ Thinking about Gene the older man was unable to hide his sad smile. No, they hadn't found Gene's body there. It was likely that Gene had been buried under the name John Doe._

_ While Lin was lost in his thoughts Mai felt like she was forgetting something important. Like she'd known for sure a second ago and now it had completely escaped her mind. Something important but her head ached so much and everything in her mind foggy._

_ It was like being in the astral world but this time she was in the living world._

_ "Everyone is fine," he said._

_ Though Lin was surprised when her attention suddenly focused on the curtain between them and another patient. It was like Mai had been struck with an answer to a, particularly difficult math problem._

_ Mai lept up and out of the hospital bed. Much to Lin's shock of the sudden action. Unable to stop her from ripping the curtain separating them and the patient next door. Lin was quick to rush over to make sure she didn't fall and hurt herself._

_ What could possibly be so important about this patient- Lin's thoughts fell to the floor when he registered who he was seeing on the other bed. His shiki all hovering around them also stopping in their tracks._

_ And there he was with his skin so pale and frail-looking. With long and scruffy raven hair and with a face that was the exact mirror of Naru's. Impossible, Gene was supposed to be dead. Naru had experienced their psychic bond shattering and Gene's death._

_ Before Lin could fully process his emotions and what he was seeing Mai collapsed. Too much excitement all at once on top of leaving the bed in such a weak state. Luckily Lin was aware enough that his reflexes were still sharp enough to catch her. Gently he picked her up. She was so light it was unnerving how little she weighed._

_ Was she eating enough? This had been a growing concern for Lin. But for now, he placed the girl back into her back into bed. _

_ Lin's heart was racing as he called in the nurse. Wanting to run to find Naru, but needing to see Mai was fine first. Lin watched the nurse rush in and start to fuss over the girl. _

_ Faintly he heard Mai mumble Gene's name. Did she somehow know Gene? How could that be possible? Mai had so many secrets these days. After all, she hadn't even flinched when the truth about Oliver same to light._

_ So apparently her 'guide' had explained things beforehand. When he didn't know, but he suspected it had been around the Blood Stained Mansion case. Idly he wondered if Gene was the true mastermind behind that permanent marker incident..._

_ Lin wanted to stay and ask the nurse and Mai a million questions. But first, he needed to find Noll and call the twins' parents. Lin's heart was fluttering in excitement unable to contain the giddy grin on his face. Lin's chest felt a million times lighter than it had in the last two years._

_ Lin was in such a rush that he almost didn't notice the very people he was trying to find. As they walked around the corner to the image of an ecstatic Lin quickly walking towards them._

_ What could possibly have gotten Lin to be this flustered? In actuality, Madoka and Naru had never seen Lin this way before. And Madoka had been his friend since they were children. Was he possessed somehow?_

_ Lin stopped in front of them taking a moment to calm his heart rate down. But the group were all visibly shaken as Lin was trying and failing to say something but failing short of speaking the words._

_ "Lin, what hell happened," asked Madoka reaching her hands out._

_ Worriedly watching Lin trying to catch his breath and perhaps from sound for words while he was at it. If Mai was simply awake Lin wouldn't be this eager. Of all the things that could rile Lin up so much what could it be?_

_ "Gene is alive." _

_Lin watched Naru and Madoka as their minds tried to process that information. No, it was impossible. Naru's mask shattering as he and Madoka paled. Naru remembered every detail of his brother's last moments. Their link being shattered on top of the burning in Naru's lungs. The experience had been excruciating._

_ But as Naru watched Lin he let himself hope for just a moment. As he and Madoka almost in unison said their next word._

_ "What!?"_

_ Gene groaned his throat felt so dry and his body felt as heavy as a pile of bricks. And his eyes didn't really wanna open as some eye gunk decided it wanted to cause him trouble. On top of that, his joints and back felt so stiff._

_ After a moment he was able to open his greyish blue eyes enough to look around the room. Idly he noted it was rather boring except for the nurse who was fussing over somebody. Though the girl on the bed was protesting the nurse. Her voice sounded just so familiar that it made him smile._

_ But he'd never heard that voice before right? Well not anywhere else besides his dreams. Darn, it was all too fuzzy to remember fully. On top of that Gene really needed a nice tall glass of good old H2O. It took him a good few minutes to focus on the girl's face. It was cute and round with tenacious honey brown eyes._

_ Gene was sure he'd never seen this girl in his life. For a moment he wondered where Noll was. It was strange not waking up to either Noll or Lin at his bedside while hospitalized. But his attention returned onto the girl beside him._

_ Finally, it clicked in his brain as to whom this girl was. Gene tried to speak but what came out was just another groan. Though this time the nurse heard him. Jumping in surprise and turning to face Gene. He could see that the tall blond nurse had kindly green eyes that were full of surprise._

_ "W-water..." Gene crocked his voice was raspy and it kinda hurt to talk._

_ "Right away!" The nurse poured him a cup from Mai's side of the room and put in a new straw before gently helping him take a sip._

_ "Thank you, Miss... Yuki is it," said Gene while reading her name tag smiling when she blushed._

_ Before Yuki could reply the door opened and Gene caught sight of two blurs rushing towards his bed. One magenta and the other blur almost a solid black. It was like looking in a mirror once the black blur stopped. Their eyes locking and Naru's absolute shock shown clear on his face._

_ When was the last time Noll had expressed this kind of emotion? Though Madoka through her arms around Gene crying her eyes out and causing her mascara to flow down her face._

_ "You're alive," cried Madoka sobbing uncontrollably._

_ "Not for long," said Gene coughing slightly. "Not if your hugs have a say in it anyway."_

_ Gene just had all the girls crying over him today. Now he just felt like a jerk who makes women cry. But his cheeky grin grew when Madoka lightly slapped the boy's chest still sobbing._

_ For a moment the nurse tried was utterly confused about what to do. But seeing how similar Naru and this John Doe she decided it best to give them a moment. Letting them know she'd be back with a doctor soon before rushing off._

_ Idly Gene noticed that Mai had fallen back to sleep before turning to see Lin and then an entire line of unfamiliar faces. Though some were happily crying and others were fighting back the urge to cry. Afterall finding out your long thought dead brother was actually alive was definitely an uncommon sight._

_ But it wasn't long before everyone besides Lin, Naru, and Madoka were rushed out of the room by the doctor and nurses. As it had turned out Gene and somehow ended up onshore and a young couple had found him._

_ After resuscitating Gene he didn't wake up so they'd called the ambulance. Having no identification on him by the time he ended up in their hospital as a John Doe. It was only a lucky coincidence that the patient Mai Tamiyama landed in the same room._

_ This was a story that the doctor would be telling people for years to come. But for now, he let them have some time to catch up._

_ And so they did catch up. Madoka was telling Gene about everything that had happened while he'd been asleep. Whilst Lin and Naru spoke much less they were more than a little chatty for this occasion._

_ It took a while before Mai woke up again. But this time when she woke up. Naru was watching her from over beside Gene. Madoka and Lin had given them some privacy. Mai smiled when Gene turned to greet her with his own._

_ "Found you," said Mai only serving to make Gene laugh._

_ Naru watched his laughing twin blankly before turning to look at Mai who had the biggest grin on her face. It was as if she'd just won the lottery and a fully paid vacation to some tropical retreat. _

_ Naru was more than glad that his brother was alive, but he also felt annoyed about something. As to what he had no idea. It was ridiculous he should only be happy right now. _

_ This thought transferred to Gene. And Gene began laughing at his twin. Completely understanding as to why his brother was conflicted, but much too amused to explain it to him._

_"You are truly a stupid scientist," said Gene causing Noll too stare blankly._

_ Noll had forgotten how insufferable his twin was... But Noll was glad to have this connection back._

_Transfering back up 2 years to the present day._

Sat inside a cafe were two young adults studying. Or at least one of them was attempting too. But math was Mai's nemesis much to Yasu's bemusement. Though his thoughts kept trailing off onto random things.

"Hey, Earth to Yasu, come in Yasu do you read," said Mai while waving her hand in his face to get him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry Princess, I couldn't resist the dream where I got to be with you forever," said Yasu sighing and standing to take her in his arms dramatically. "Oh, how I missed you since our last encounter!"

Dramatically swooning and making a scene. But it was making her giggle and laugh. Vaguely he heard some girls say, "aww that's so cute," and that made him grin more. A flirtatious smile playing on his lips as he held his chin in his hand.

"My dearest Mai, how could I ever focus on studying when you're around," said Yasu enjoying the blush rising on her cheeks and his eyes rested on her lips for a brief moment.

Lord did he want to just kiss her senseless before- Yasu was glad he could keep a poker face. Because the things running through his mind would have earned him a slap or two... But he just couldn't help the way he felt.

"My dear Yasu I do hope you haven't been too lost without me," said Mai as they sta back in their chairs. "However, could I cope knowing how you suffer so?"

'_My Yasu,'_ he fought the heat trying to rise in his face. Idly he noted the onlookers who all decided they could form an opinion on the two ghost hunters.

"Rather well despite the lack of you being there my Princess," he said with a flirtatious wink making her laugh more as the waitress came to take another order.

He watched Mai order another mocha latte and told the waitress to make it a to-go cup. Along with some cake. Despite her bright appearance Mai seemed tired. As if she might fall asleep sitting in her chair at any moment.

Yasu supposed that her current job on top of acting as a freelance Ghost Hunter was draining. Despite most of her work required her to nap. Those dreams took a toll on her mentally, physically and probably spiritually. On top of that Yasu supposed that experiencing how someone died was never fun. Yasu couldn't even imagine that being his new normal.

"Thanks for helping me study Yasu. I know you're busy so it means a lot," said Mai to which Yasu smirked playfully and his finger caressing the top of his mug.

"Ahh but I simply wanted to hear you say Yasu-sempai~," said Yasu in a slight purring tone she blushed at the very idea. "And to visit the Princess' tower."

It was adorable how innocent she was sometimes he thought as her expressions changed so rapidly. The waitress came back tp gave Mai her mocha and cakes. Mai then paid the girl and they made their way to her apartment. Honestly, sometimes Mai was so serious these days it was good to see her smile.

It had been a while since they just hung out. Ever since Oliver had gotten back that jerk had taken almost all of Mai's free time. A selfish jerk keeping Mai all to himself. And many thoughts continued to run through his mind as he and Mai walked to her apartment.

The apartment building wasn't much. It was a two-story building in a good location if you needed to get somewhere on foot. Which was good since Mai usually walked where ever she needed to go. Unless it was a case then she made do with what transportation was available.

As they entered her apartment that was sizeable a little bigger than the one he had. Which meant Mai was doing well between school and ghost hunting. She was definitely more confident now than she used to be.

Mai took her shoes off after closing the door and went into the kitchen to grab more snacks and get some water boiling. With Mai around nobody went thirsty he mused smirking as he put his notebook and laptop bag on the coffee table.

He took the chance to look around at the living room which was adjoined to the dining room. The walls were pretty bare while she had a few bookshelves against the walls filled with books and some games.

But on one of the shelves sat some picture frames. One picture was of a much younger Mai being picked up by a man with dark brown hair and green eyes. The man stood next to a chestnut brown-haired woman with honey brown eyes. All of them smiling at the camera.

And beside that was a smaller picture of Mai, Yasu, John, and Masako celebrating after a particularly difficult case. That case had taken place after Ayako and Monk had become less inclined to do cases.

Eventually, Mai had just stopped asking them all for assistance. But the cases were getting more dangerous. A part of Yasu hated that she was so invested in cases.

Yasu noted that the books were either textbooks, fantasy, mystery, or sci-fi. She'd dedicated an entire shelf to supernatural books. That had made him chuckle in amusement. His eyes then landed on the only photograph on the wall. It hung just over the small shelf he was standing in front of.

The couple from earlier and a small Mai all smiling without a care in the world. Even though Mai had puffy eyes and an ice cream stain on her blue dress.

"Oh, I remember that," said Mai as a sad smile formed on her face. "They'd finally gotten a day off and I was upset at wasting the ice cream they bought."

Mai stared at the picture and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave a one-armed hug. Yasu wouldn't trade the friendship he had with Mai for the world. Mai hugged him back for a moment still staring at the photo.

"I have more pictures but this was the last one before dad died," Mai said and Yasu imagined a sad memory was playing in her mind.

And that was no good! Yasu wasn't gonna have any of that! Especially when he's around. Today was a fun study session he'd see to that. Or his name wasn't Osamu Yasuhara!

"Time for studying," said Yasu in an over-enthusiastic way making her stare at him for a moment before giggling.

Yeah, he liked it better when she laughed and smiled. And so they got back to the task at hand. Though Yasu cracking lots of jokes in the process.

"Ugh, math is such a pain," said Mai pouting and frustratedly throwing her hands up since she didn't understand the problem in front of her.

Smirking Yasu poked her before making a mock Naru expression knowing that always made her laugh. Shaking his finger and smugly glaring at the girl.

"If you don't wanna be such a dummy you should know this already," said Yasu snicking when Mai leveled an annoyed glare at him perhaps it was too on the nose?

"What's so funny? This is a very important business," Yasu said still with his overly enthusiastic Naru impression.

Mai only felling back on the floor in a fit of laughter and he did the same unable to keep himself from laughing. Though Yasu's laughter paused after a while still snickering here and there. Watch her still giggling before he continued making cracks about their old boss.

Naru was reading a certain case file his assistant had given him the day before. In truth, it was a very solid file. But, Naru had a gut feeling that it would become much more trouble than it was worth.

Though Gene mentally rolled his eyes at his twin's thoughts. The sound of Noll sneezing was heard. Then another, and then Noll was unable to stop sneezing. Idly Gene wondered if Noll was going to sneeze out all his brains. Which would by default make Gene the smartest.

Eventually, Lin had come out of his room due to Naru's sneezing fit being rather loud. It finally stopped and Naru got the strong sense that someone was bad-mouthing him. Which in turn put the stoic twin in one of his famous bad moods. Much to Gene's amusement.

_ Yasu stared up at Mai as she approached him. He was sitting on her couch. His eyes landed on her cleavage with her shirt and hair disheveled. Mai's eyes had a needy gleam in them. Watching her lean down to unbuttoning his pants before crawling up onto his lap. Her skirt riding up as he slid his hand up her tighs. Yasu feeling her soft skin as his eyes locked into hers. Mai grabbed his shirt by the collar pulling him in for a kiss and- _

Yasu sat up quickly. He felt the heat in his face and down his neck from the dream he'd just had. Yasu looked around his surroundings and noted that he was still in Mai's apartment.

Loosening his collar before seeing that Mai herself was still sitting at the coffee table. But had also fallen asleep on top of her math book.

He let out a nervous breath allowing himself to calm down. Smiling when he felt the soft red blanket on top of him. Yasu got up and put the same blanket over her shoulders. Kneeling to her level and watching her face for a moment.

Her lips were parted as she breathed softly and evenly. He leaned down, eyes fixed upon her lips as if he was in a trance. Yasu's face was an inch from hers before pulling away. '**No!**' Yasu told himself slapping the side of his head to knock some kind of sense into it.

That would have been taking advantage of her and he didn't want to do that. But god was it a tempting thought to steal a kiss. He instead propped his head up and settled for staring at her sleeping form. Creepy? Sure but at least this way he got to see her cute sleep face and hear her tiny snore.

"No kissing study buddies while they're asleep," he said slowly closing his eyes for a long moment. Listening to her snore softly Yasu fell into the depths of sleep once again.


	3. Chapter 2: Getting Over It Part 1

Chapter Two

Getting Over it Part I

It was a quiet day or so it had started as such. And Mai was thankful for the break from everything. It had been a long month. Mai rubbed her temples as she watched people walking by her favorite little cafe. Ever since Na- he left she had made a habit of trying to be out of her apartment for things other than work.

After all, one could only mope for so long. But still, she thought taking a sip of her mocha. She was tired and the dark bags under her eyes didn't help. It had only been a month since he left for England with his newly found twin by the name of Gene.

She sighed watching the light fade from the sky. It was a nice bright color, but with the night also came sleep, and sleep brought the astral plain. The astral plain without Gene there allowed other ghosts to locate her. Those ghosts then begged for help and she couldn't help them all. Ghosts are like spoiled children when they don't get what they want they get angry.

She rubbed her bruised neck dully wondering what she could do before it got even more out of hand. Monk and Ayako were busy and didn't have as much time. Ayako was focusing on her medical field and as such their contact was practically null in void. Monk, on the other hand, was going on tour and also didn't have time.

So Mai didn't really call or text them much. She understood and was fine with it really. Though she'd asked them about her current situation of not having a spirit guide to buffer her spiritual signal in the astral plain.

They didn't know and had gotten worried. She guessed it was partly her own fault for not going to the meetings much. But she always felt like people were missing and it didn't feel right. Plus watching them all interact just reminded Mai of Oliver and it hurt to think of him.

Plus it wasn't like they could tell her anything she didn't know. Not to mention all their suggestions would block her powers. Mai wanted to deal with them because running away from her abilities was stupid. Naru had run away from his PK and couldn't use it now because it would kill him.

Mai supposed it wasn't his fault in the start. But honestly knowing him he should have figured out how to use his PK instead of suppressing it. The same had happened with Gene and that was why he couldn't tell if he was alive or not.

So much could have been avoided if their family hadn't of gotten scared of what could happen. In the end, it stunted their spiritual growth. The same was happening with everyone else and Mai refused to let herself become complacent.

Mai scrolled through her tablet in search of some helpful articles to help her settle her astral plain problem. So far all she could find was the same thing. She needed a spiritual guide, but it didn't say how to get one or anything else she needed to know.

Frustrated she changed her focus onto reading articles in English she found it easier to learn when reading an interesting book. Mai had basic knowledge of the language so it wasn't as difficult as other subjects like math. Mentally she thanked John for his recommendations.

It took five more cups of mocha coffee and two donuts before Mai paid her bill and went home. She was getting tired and didn't wanna fall asleep in an open place like the cafe. It was too easy for ghosts to find her there among other things.

Mai opened the door to a cluttered mess. She groaned at her slobby lifestyle but was too lazy to bother picking stuff up. It was just gonna become a mess again when she woke up.

Sighing she locked the door behind her. She noticed the charm Ayako had made and looked around to see them along the walls. They'd stopped working for stronger ghosts after three nights, unfortunately.

Again she hadn't wanted to bother Ayako or anyone so she kept quiet about the useless barrier. Her thoughts traveled to Yasu who was working on exams that his college had every two months.

Poor guy had been so tired the other day when they'd gotten coffee and he had helped her study on math in the cafe she'd just come from. She appreciated him for dragging her out of her apartment.

Yasu was such a good guy and Mai hoped he'd get a good love interest. She suspected he was Bi so didn't put much more thought into it. He seemed to be doing well other than his tired state from studying so much.

Mai smiled to herself thinking of him as he tried to make her grumpy ass laugh. He succeeded in his mission though and seemed happy before parting ways.

She put her bag down and tossed her to-go cup in the trash. She looked down at a cup she'd left in the sink. She washed it and smiled remembering when John, Masako, Yasu, and herself had gone out for some fun as friends.

John had gotten her the cup at a cute little shop they passed by after Yasu had dragged Masako off for some reason. Maybe he liked Masako? Mai giggled thinking about how cute Yasu and Masako would be together.

Masako had a lot more free time after she quit her TV show. She'd been tired of her manager trying to make things up and now the four of us tended to work on jobs together now. Well more like a job since they had yet to get another client.

But it paid the bills rather well since we got the job done. Mai now thought about her part-time job working as a waitress in a nice restaurant. That also paid the bills but they'd fired her after coming to work with bruises. Like it was Mai's fault ghosts were attracted to her as physic.

After studying and finishing whatever homework she had to the best of her ability she changed and brushed her teeth before getting in bed. She yawned and before she knew it she'd fallen asleep.

Once again Mai opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by white orbs floating upwards. She noted the ghosts coming towards her warily. But she focused on what she needed: A guide.

Soon enough she found herself standing in a grassy field. A man of Chinese decent standing in front of her a blank expression on his face.

"Uh...Hello?" Mai nervously greeted with a polite bow.

The man had silver hair despite looking too young to have such hair and aqua colored eyes. He had a traditional set of clothes of something people would have worn centuries ago. His skin was tan and his eyes crinkled in amusement at her.

"You summoned me?" A bemused tone of voice and his voice sounded deep and gentle making her blush.

"I am Tamiyama Mai," She bowed again in greeting. "I was trying to find a spirit guide."

"Well, congratulations you found one." He stated trying not to chuckle when she blushed a deep shade of red. "My name is Shikino Kyoya."

Kyoya bowed still amused as she continued to grow a brighter shade of red. At least she was cute if not a tad slow, But he didn't blame her as these days there wasn't much training or help on the side of the living.

"May I ask why you are in need of a guide?" He had a guess that whoever her other guide had either a(passed on, or b(quit. Because usually a guide was appointed the moment someone entered the astral plain.

"Um well. You see my guide turned out to be alive and in acoma and now he's with his evil twin in England." She scowled at 'evil twin' making his lips twitch up and yet that explanation would have to go under c(other...

"Evil twin?" Kyoya raised an eyebrow and she blushed now in annoyance.

"He used to be my boss... He's a real jerk. Can't believe I liked him..." Mai muttered the last bit but Kyoya had excellent hearing.

He guessed it was a touchy subject and he perked his ears up when he felt a few wandering ghosts tapping on his barrier. He focused on the girl who was leaking physic energy like a running faucet.

"Did something happen that made you use an enormous chunk of energy?" She snapped out of whatever thoughts she was having completely forgetting her anger. She was a rather odd girl he mused.

"Yeah twice, see once I had to shoot a fake Budda with an energy arrow or something and then shortly after I was in another situation where I had to purify these kids that had turned into starving souls," Mai answered shrugging as it was already old news.

Kyoya stared intently no one in this age had been able to do that. Not without dying from the toll it would take on one's body and that would be from merely one of those instances and yet she had experienced two of them within a short time span.

But then her guide woke up and now the ghosts were attracted to her because they knew she had the power to help them. But it was lucky nothing else had jumped at the chance to use her. Demons pretending to be spirit guides had been the major cause of why physics of note had become so scarce.

Despite that, she had found him without knowing who he was which he'd thought wasn't possible for the physics of this age. After all, no one had found him so he hadn't guided anyone since the last one.

The last physic he had been guiding was a jerk and used his power recklessly and died. The last physic he'd heard of besides Mai was Davis or something. The details were blurry as gossip tended to make Kyoya nauseous.

They spoke for a long time. It felt as by now they were sitting at a table in Kyoya's home in the spirit world. It had been a long time since Kyoya had anyone to talk with and it was nice that his new physic medium was a sweet young girl. Who was quite fun to make blush.

John shifted awkwardly as he drove their little team van. Mai was beside him and the other two wouldn't be able to get to the site until sometime around noon the next day. But it was strange to be with just Mai for once. Not in a bad way though.

He glanced at her to see she was reading something on her tablet. He supposed she didn't want to distract him while he was driving with expensive cargo.

Some equipment was from Masako's old job as a TV star. She'd signed a contract that if she quit she'd get most of the equipment. Plus the studio still had to pay the insurance and for damages.

Still, the equipment was top-notch, and it helped solidify their little ghost-hunting business. Especially now that John had quit the priesthood so he could become more adaptable in emergency situations.

He was still a priest, but at least now he could get married or date if he wanted too. He supposed it was because he liked working in Japan even though it was more dangerous.

Idly John recalled three months ago when Naru left for England in April. Poor guy had thought his brother was dead the entire time and finally had his brother back and alive. And yet John couldn't help the twinge of bitterness while wondering what he did to make Mai cry so long.

Though Mai had gotten better, she was a bit more distant from them all. Mentally, he wondered how Bou and Ayako were doing since they hadn't been available for a while. Everyone was so busy, he supposed.

Still, hadn't they thought of Mai as their own kid? He felt a bit annoyed that they hadn't been trying to be around her. Mai was pushing everyone away, but that's when friends need to stick together the most.

His thoughts ended when he came to a stop at the house that their current job was supposed to be. It looked fairly old and was rather sizable.

"Let's go greet the residents and then start setting up our command center." Mai cheerfully hopped out of the van and walked towards the jade green door.

Smiling, John followed her lead and stood just behind her. He caught a whiff of Mai's shampoo when the door opened somehow she smelled like chocolate. He really needed to ask her where to get that because that shampoo smelled freaking delicious.

And now John was hungry and craving chocolate. Mai didn't notice John staring at her hair with mild annoyance.

Part of him wanted to just hug her and bury his face in her hair, and the other part of him was yelling at himself for being a weirdo. Though the girl was oblivious to his inner war raging in his mind.

He took a moment to take in her appearance. Her light brown hair had grown out at an odd rate considering it was to her shoulders now, and curling at the ends. Her eyes looked tired most of the time like she didn't get enough sleep and yet the bags under her eyes seemed to be fading.

Her skin was pale as always, and he noted a few bruises peeking out from her back under her navy blue shirt. Her starting blue and then ending in a black ruffled skirt reaching down to her knees.

Still, he noted that while in their previous case that she was easily able to carry heavy objects she's had trouble with before. So he assumed she's been going to a gym or something.

And in the opened door a man who would be in the mid-thirties who'd been borderline desperate for help. His eyes a dark brown, and his short hair was an onyx black.

"Oh hello.." The man- Toni Edogawa seemed to be regretting his decision by every minute that passed.

"Good afternoon Edogawa-san," Mai bowed respectfully and John followed suit. "Please be aware that despite our young ages we have helped several people. We do also have experience with the supernatural that most don't. Our researcher Yasuhara-san, and our medium Hara-san have been held back in case we need extra equipment." Mai slipped into her business mode and that was why she was their unofficial boss now.

John knew that Mai was covering for Masako and Yasu while building the man's faith in their team, and at the same time being both polite and answering questions he had yet to ask. It was as if she'd heard it all a million times before.

Which now that John thought about it Mai had. She'd learned from watching Naru interact with people for a year. But at the same time, he recalled the meeting he'd had with Masako and Yasu that Mai had been late to attend.

_Masako was covering her mouth with her kimono as usual as Yasu and John talked for a while until they brought up their ghost hunting thing. They were trying to come up with a name so people could find them easier._

_"So who is our boss?" Yasu asked to change the subject for a while since no one had any good name ideas._

_"No one, we're all partners," Masako answered and that made Yasu tilt his head slightly._

_"Well from what I see John is our driver slash exorcist, Masako is our medium slash sponsor, I'm the research assistant slash manager, and Mai is the physic medium slash people person." Yasu smiled a bit more when saying her name, hinting that John's conclusion that he liked Mai was true._

_But before anyone could say anything Mai suddenly plopped down beside Masako a little sweaty and trying to calm her breathing._

_"Sorry I'm late, I was trying to come up with logos and then I came up with a name. 'Paranorm Investigation' and I even came up with a logo." Mai said her breath was unsteady; she must have run for a while._

_She showed them a piece of paper with the name Paranorm Investigation in cursive under an all-seeing green eye with a cross for a pupil a doll in the eyes' reflection and an ink pen in the doll's hand. _

_"See I figured that since the paranormal is our normal I'd leave out the last part of the word and.." Mai went on to explain and no one disagreed with her fair points._

_And that was before she said that she'd received three cases that she wanted them to look over. Yasu poked fun at her for being all work and asked if she was turning into a female version of Naru to which she slapped his arm before mockingly bemoaning his choice of words._

Three hours later after speaking with their client John was at the monitors helping Mai set up the camera angles. It took awhile for the two of them to finish. They didn't have enough cameras so they just put the cameras in the rooms that have experienced activity for now and a few in the rooms Mai felt they'd be needed in.

John yawned as he poured himself a cup of hot coffee from their makeshift kitchenette. Keeping an eye on the monitors as he prepared his coffee.

He heard a scream and hurried to check the monitors. Mai was dragged into the bathroom by an invisible force and he ran as fast as he could. The bathroom was on the second floor; it took him longer than he would have liked.

Mai chanted the warding magic Kyoya had taught her. Embarrassed she'd screamed in the first place. The warding was weaker than she would have liked but her new shiki took care of the rest. It was a woman she noted idly glancing at the full bathtub the ghost had tried to drag her too.

Mai grimaced at the possibility of experiencing drowning again. It was never a pleasant experience….


End file.
